by Ian Marshall, Editor
Facing twin sister Mariam in the final, Marwa Alhodaby secured the under 21 women’s singles title (11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-13, 11-8).
Impressively, earlier in the day she had recorded a quarter-final win against Angola’s Ruth Tavares (11-2, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9), followed by a semi-final success in opposition to Tunisia’s Fadwa Garci (11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6). Somewhat similarly, in the opposite half of the draw, in the same rounds, Mariam Alhodaby had beaten Algeria’s Hiba Feredj (11-4, 11-5, 11-6, 11-3) and colleague Sarah Abousetta (11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 11-7).
Success for Marwa Alhodaby, in the junior girls’ singles event it was the top prize for Sara El-Hakem; she accounted for Fadwa Garci (11-8, 11-3, 7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9) before ending the hopes of colleagues Shahd Sameh (11-5, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7) and Hend Fathy (11-7, 11-9, 11-8, 11-3) to seal the title. In the counterpart contests in the opposite half of the draw, Hend Fathy had beaten Tunisia’s Ghofrane Beji (12-10, 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6) and Ala Yehia (7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-13, 11-8) to reserve her place in the title decider.
All Egyptian finals, it was the same in both the cadet girls’ singles event and in the junior girls’ doubles competition.
In the cadet girls’ singles, after accounting for Nigeria’s Sukurat Aryelbegan (11-2, 11-5, 11-4, 11-7), Hana Goda overcame Farida Badawy (11-7, 13-11, 11-1, 9-11, 11-2) to secure the title.
“I felt I could win particularly playing against my teammate. Most times in Egypt, we always meet in the final and it is always a close match. I am so happy that I won today because it was a very tough match. In most matches, my mum sits close to the table but I told her to go up higher so that I would not see her; this really helped me to focus. I am so happy that I won the cadet title having won the African Hopes last year.” Hana Goda
Success for Hana Goda, in the junior girls’ doubles final it was success for Shahd Sameh and Alaa Yehia; they secured the top prize at the expense of Sarah El-Hakem and Hend Fathy (11-6, 10-12, 12-10, 7-11, 11-8).
2019 African Youth, Junior and Cadet Championships: Newsletter No.8 (Saturday 13th April)
